Trey Hutchens trying to find that family magic at Bowman Gray Stadium

You won't catch Trey Hutchens taking it for granted that he gets to race occasionally at Bowman Gray Stadium, where he has memories upon memories of coming to the stadium.

"I literally grew up here," said the 27-year-old driver who now lives in Charlotte but grew up near Lexington. "I love coming over here and seeing what this No. 14 car has."

For those who are drenched in the history of the stadium, Hutchens' father is, Bobby, who won seven times in the Modified Division to rank 46th in the history of the 77-year-old weekly series. Bobby's father, who went by the nickname of Bud, didn't race at the stadium but was a car owner and his most successful driver was Phillip Smith, who had 45 career Modified wins.

Trey got started in racing as a 14-year-old freshman at North Davidson when he was racing at Ace Speedway. The Journal featured the up-and-comer who wanted to be a driver and do it for a living.

Hutchens, who was the class president, graduated from North Davidson and then earned degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science at N.C. State. He's not making a living as a driver, but he's definitely entrenched in the business of racing.

"I bet he didn't tell you that he graduated at the top of his class at N.C. State," said Bobby, who was helping his son on his team in the opener last weekend.

Trey started to work for General Motors soon after graduation and is moving up in the racing industry.

"I work for General Motors and I'm a software developer for the Cadillac F1 team," Hutchens said. "I'm really enjoying the job, and it's cool to be a part of it all."

Bobby said he's proud of what his son is doing in racing.

"He's very smart and loves working on that technical stuff, so I'm so happy that he's found what he loves to do," Bobby said.

In recent years, Trey has raced at the K&N level and has raced some trucks at the NASCAR level. They plan on driving in the big races at Bowman Gray Stadium and will be back for the Kevin Powell Motorsports 100-lapper on May 2.

Bobby said seeing his son race at Bowman Gray means a lot.

"He saw me race for so many years," said Bobby, who is one of the first engineers in the NASCAR garage who had top-level positions for Richard Childress Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.

Bobby didn't race at Bowman Gray during his time working for Childress or the Stewart-Haas Racing team. He nearly won Modified titles in 2005 and '06.

Trey said the race shop they still use is in Winston-Salem is about eight miles from the stadium. It's the same shop that Bobby used when he was running races.

"There's a lot of people that like seeing that blue and yellow 14 car go around the track and I like to see that, too," Hutchens said. "It means a lot to me to keep this (team) going."

Bobby, who was valedictorian when he graduated from Parkland, also graduated with honors from NC State in engineering.

"I've enjoyed being on this racing journey with Trey over the last 10 years or so," Bobby said. "We started to race closer to home last year and being over here at the stadium brings back a lot of memories."

One thing that hasn't changed through the years, according to Bobby, is the fan support. There were more than 14,000 for opening night.

"It's really one of the most amazing things in racing that I've ever seen," Bobby said. "We've raced at a lot of short tracks around the country on Saturday nights at all levels and there's nothing like what is here at Bowman Gray Stadium. It's just incredible."

What would also be incredible for the Hutchens family is if Trey can break through and get that first win. Trey said the car is a lot faster this season and his first victory could be coming. He finished ninth in the Hayes Jewelers 200 last Saturday night.

"Being in that (race) program as a winner would be pretty damn special to me," Hutchens said. "It would mean a lot."

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